ARM unveils Cortex-A15 chip

ARM has unveiled its next generation “Eagle” processor, which will fit into everything from smartphones, energy-efficient servers and tablets.

The Cortex-A15 is said to be five times better than the standard A8 chips found in today’s high-end smartphones. However it claims the new chip will consume no more power.

The Eagle will initially be available in 32nm or 28nm formats and will deliver clock speeds of up to 2.5GHz.

“The launch of the Cortex-A15 MPCore processor marks the beginning of an entirely new era for the ARM Partnership. It brings together more than 20 years of ARM expertise in low-power design with a host of new and very aggressive high-performance technologies,” said Mike Inglis, EVP and GM, processor division, ARM.

“The Cortex-A15 MPCore processor will become the next major step along the industry’s energy efficient computing roadmap and open up a wide range of new application possibilities for our Partners,” he added.

The chip is also compatible with other Cortex-A processors, which means it can be used for immediate access to an established developer and software ecosystem, including Android, Adobe, Flash Player, Linux, Microsoft Windows and Ubuntu.

It also offers hardware support for virtualisation. This could lead to smartphones with “multiple personalities”, where the owner has one virtual machine for business purposes and another for personal use.